Parking lots today, for the most part, are manually operated. The person parking his car receives a ticket from the parking attendant on which his time of entry is stamped. When the person leaves the parking area, his ticket is again time-stamped by the attendant, and the attendant calculates the amount of money to be paid by the customer. However, this practice is relatively costly and inefficient, cash security is at a minimum, and it also makes it easy for a dishonest attendant to misappropriate funds.
A computerized parking system is described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,390 which is rapid and efficient, and which provides for a positive record to be maintained as to the time each vehicle was actually in the parking area, and the total amount of parking fees which should have been paid for each vehicle.
The system described in the patent provides for an effective management of a parking system, and provides the proprietor with improved control of the overall operation of the system, and specifically to provide optimum control of the cash register and to prevent any mishandling of funds. In addition, the system described in the patent increases security since it can provide for all cash to be retained in the theft-proof register. The system further provides optimum traffic control regardless of the number of entrance and exit gates, including information as to the exact number of cars within the parking area at any time, and the license number of each car.
The system of the patent serves particularly to keep costs down and revenues up in the operation of a parking system. It provides constant monitoring of daily income, and can issue daily receipts for daily customers, as well as periodic billing, for monthly customers.
The system of the present invention is generally similar to the system described in the patent and it has the same features and advantages which are inherent in the former system. However, the system of the present invention operates in a different manner, and is somewhat simpler than the system of the patent.
It will become evident as the description proceeds that although the system of the invention has particular utility with respect to parking lots, and it will be described in that environment in the subsequent specification, the system has other applications, such as in conjunction with toll roads, and the like, for monitoring motor vehicles by reading and storing the license plate numbers of the vehicles, and for example, an image of the driver's face.
The system of the invention can also be used for security purposes in the parking facilities of office and apartment buildings; as speed controls on highways and freeways; and to prevent theft of motor vehicles. The system also can be hooked into the police computer system and used to detect stolen cars with outstanding citations, as they enter the facility.